High proton conduction in a chiral ferromagnetic metal-organic quartz-like framework.

A complex-as-ligand strategy to get a multifunctional molecular material led to a metal-organic framework with the formula (NH(4))(4)[MnCr(2)(ox)(6)]·4H(2)O. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that the anionic bimetallic coordination network adopts a chiral three-dimensional quartz-like architecture. It hosts ammonium cations and water molecules in functionalized channels. In addition to ferromagnetic ordering below T(C) = 3.0 K related to the host network, the material exhibits a very high proton conductivity of 1.1 × 10(-3) S cm(-1) at room temperature due to the guest molecules.